The EPA is in the midst of its first Integrated Risk Information System bimonthly public meeting, focused on the draft IRIS assessments of ethylene oxide and benzo(a)pyrene, and on preliminary materials for three chemicals prior to the development of IRIS assessments: ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), tert-butyl alcohol (tert-butanol), and hexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). The meeting started yesterday and will conclude today.

The EPA is providing guidance to school administrators and maintenance personnel on how to properly maintain and manage fluorescent lighting with ballasts that contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Many older ballasts contain PCBs that can leak when the ballasts fail, leading to elevated levels of PCBs in the air of schools. More than 150 incidents of leaking or smoking ballasts have been reported to the EPA from New York and New Jersey schools over the past 15 months.